Conclusion

What is the value of the Wrensted project? It has rescued from oblivion a photographer who was a master of her craft. B. Wrensted is also representative of a significant number of women who photographed Native Americans, but whom history has not treated with kindly remembrance.

This project has added to our knowledge of the role of photography in the West, by showing how Indians and non-Indians in one locality used photographs. It has added insight into why pictures were taken and has demonstrated the value of historical images in anthropological research. Finally, the Wrensted project has given back to the Fort Hall people and to the Pocatellans a priceless visual legacy from their past.

Minnie Camas Willie, A Weiser-Shoshone from the Boise Valley. Credit: * National Archives and Records Administration, Still Picture Branch: 75-SEI-8